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ETIAS e-visa to visit Europe introduced in late 2026

EES stands for Entry/Exit System and applies to all passport holders of non-Schengen Area countries. Visitors who are travelling for a short stay (up to 90 days within any 180-day period) will get digital photographs and fingerprints taken at a border. If it’s your first time crossing into an EES country, a passport control officer will scan your fingerprints or take a photo of your face. You can do some things in advance like using a self-service system at the border crossing point or using a mobile application, if that’s made available by the country of arrival or departure. For those who travel back into the region, having already gone through the process, the passport control officer will only verify your fingerprints and photo, or if you have a biometric passport, you can use the self-service system.

There have been years of delays, but a sort of soft launch has been confirmed for October 12, 2025. It will operate at some borders straight away, but will slowly be added to others in the six months after that.

At some date in the last quarter of 2026, New Zealand passport holders will probably need an ETIAS Travel Authorisation to enter the EU. We’re being deliberately vague here as the scheme has been delayed several times since 2020, was recently pushed back again from 2025 to “late 2026”.

ETIAS – the European Travel Information and Authorisation System – is a visa waiver system for those visitors whose countries are not part of the EU. Some nationalities will still require a visa to enter the Schengen Zone (29 European countries with freedom of movement between them), but New Zealand is one of about 60 countries that are deemed a low-level threat to the safety and security of the region and its people, and therefore qualify for the ETIAS.

Once the scheme is live (at 22/7/25 it is NOT currently) applying for an ETIAS can only be done online via the official ETIAS http://travel-europe.europa.eu/etias_en or download the ETIAS app, which is also under construction. Complete the application form, pay the fee of €20, submit your application and await an email confirming the outcome. Applicants under 18 or over 70 pay no application fee. Once granted, the passport holder has the right to enter and remain in the countries of the Schengen Zone for up to 90 days in any 180-day period and an ETIAS is valid for three years, or until the passport expires. During that time, passport holders can make multiple entries into the Schengen Zone.

Beware of fake websites masquerading as official ETIAS websites. They’re scammers; they’ll charge more than the official fee, and once you hand over your credit card details, you open yourself up to possible fraud.

 

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